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May 24, 1883 was a beautiful day in New York. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. There was a cool breeze. And visitors streamed into New York by the thousands on special trains from Philadelphia and distant points on Long Island.

For on this day, Brooklyn and Manhattan were joined for the first time by a suspension bridge, the longest ever built, and a new, greater city of New York was created. The Brooklyn Bridge,    on this week that marks its 127th birthday, is a unique symbol of New York itself. The bridge’s story is the city’s story -- a romance filled with love and sacrifice, tragedy and triumph. The bridge was the dream of a German immigrant, John Augustus Roebling. He was brilliant and tenacious. And, though it took many years, he was finally able to persuade a group of businessmen to finance the building of a bridge across the East River.

Previously the only way to go between the boroughs was by ferryboat and, during the winter months, when ice clogged the river, the trip was slow and difficult. It took many years but, finally, in 1870, the first work on the bridge began. Laborers started to clear the Brooklyn site, where a granite and limestone tower would rise. A similar tower would go up on the Manhattan side and, ultimately, steel cables would be strung across the span. On July 6, 1869, John Roebling stood on a Brooklyn wharf, surveying the scene, when an incoming ferryboat crushed his right foot against the pier. He died 16 days later of tetanus. His 32-year-old son, Washington A. Roebling, took over as chief engineer. He was determined to fulfill his father’s dream. But the Roeblings were doomed to suffer for their dream.

One day, he went down in a caisson to supervise the workmen below the water and was left partially paralyzed. At the time, little was known about the pressure disease commonly known as “the bends.” Washington Roebling suffered from it for the rest of his life. His condition made even the sound of a human voice unbearable to him. But, like his father, Washington Roebling was tenacious. Even though he couldn’t walk to the construction site, he enlisted his wife Emily.